Who is the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition?

Our mission is to reverse the trend of mass incarceration in Colorado. We are a coalition of nearly 7,000 individual members and over 100 faith and community organizations who have united to stop perpetual prison expansion in Colorado through policy and sentence reform.

Our chief areas of interest include drug policy reform, women in prison, racial injustice, the impact of incarceration on children and families, the problems associated with re-entry and stopping the practice of using private prisons in our state.

Friday, June 22, 2007

Interesting news about vaccines that will help people through the withdrawals. You always have to wonder about who these would be made available to and how much they would cost...

Science Daily — A pair of new vaccinesdesigned to combat cocaine and methamphetamine dependencies not only relieveaddiction but also minimize withdrawal symptoms, according to study resultspresented today by Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) researchers at the AnnualMeeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence in Quebec City,Canada.The vaccines stimulate the body to produce antibodies which thenattack the drug while it is in the blood stream. This prevents the drug fromreaching the brain and creating the reactions that contribute todependency."These are therapeutic, not preventative, vaccines," said leadinvestigator Dr. Thomas Kosten, Jay H. Waggoner Professor of Psychiatry &Behavioral Sciences at the Menninger Department of Psychiatry at BCM andresearch director of the Veteran Affairs national Substance Use DisordersQuality Enhancement Research Initiative. "They are meant for those who arealready suffering from drug addiction."Kosten stresses that while thevaccines have been shown to help overcome drug addictions, they do notnecessarily curb relapse."This is not a stand-alone treatment," Kosten said."There is a reason drugs were used in the first place, and that needs to bedealt with either through counseling or behavioral therapies."ScienceDaily